The Ballad of Hot Head and Frog Freak
by Electric Splatter
Summary: Tsuyu Asui doesn't really think before helping him. They're in the middle of a battle and she's following her instincts. There's a classmate in trouble, so she has to help them. Even if that classmate is an asshole.


Tsuyu Asui doesn't really think before helping him. They're in the middle of a battle and she's following her instincts. The school has started sending them out on supervised low stakes patrols in teams of four, what they're calling "quad pods". It's supposed to expand their teamwork from working in just pairs and give them some real-life experience.

Her quad pod had herself, Momo, Koda, and Bakugo working together under Mount Lady when a group of villains had unexpectedly robbed a bank a few blocks from them. As Mount Lady was the closest pro, she had to intervene. They were supposed to stay on the sidelines, but when it turned out there were at least twenty villains working together that plan had gotten scrapped.

Teams of villains robbing a bank in broad daylight, another sign of the influence of Tomura Shigaraki.

Mount Lady was trying to contain the situation without causing too much damage (which was not easy with her size). It was up to them to apprehend the villains who had decided to try and make a run for it when Mount Lady had put a hole in the wall with her fist to announce her arrival.

Bakugo's taking on the brunt of the enemy's forces (by his own choice, as he had screamed out _take me on losers I'll destroy you all _immediately when the fight began) and is currently fending off five people at once. That's what makes an opening for the sixth villain to try a sneak attack from underground. The guy had been hiding beneath them for the entire battle just waiting for the right time to strike. There had been nothing to suggest anyone having a tunneling quirk in their midst, so focusing on the ground wasn't high on their radar.

She's mostly providing support to the others from her vantage point from the side of the building she's stuck to. She calls out weak spots and gets in a few jabs with her tongue when she can. That's why she's paying attention when the ground underneath Bakugo starts to tremble. He's in the middle of unleashing a blast of flames and won't be able to dodge.

Her tongue darts out automatically. There's a classmate in trouble, so she has to help them. Even if that classmate is an asshole. She wraps her tongue around his left arm and uses the leverage to flip his position.

One second Bakugo is hovering over the hole in the ground with the enemy about to attack, the next she's spun him around so that his blast hits the foe below him instead. The villain cries out in surprise and pain as he's hit by Bakugo's fire.

Any other hero might take a moment to stumble after being forced to change directions midway through an attack by somebody else's tongue. Bakugo just glares at her, whips her tongue off of his arm forcefully, and charges back into the fray with another boast about how he was going to kill them all.

_You're welcome_, she thinks to herself, annoyed but quickly focusing on the fight again. She lashes out at one of Bakugo's targets as she draws her tongue back in. He goes down with a satisfying yelp. She moves on to helping Momo who's started to restrain the defeated villains with handcuffs she's made.

Later on, after the fighting is done, the heroes have won, and the villains are all in custody she doesn't think about saving Bakugo again. She's more worried about the implications of the growing boldness of villains and whether the school is going to get in trouble again for their participation in something this dangerous. It's a fleeting moment in the middle of a tough battle that she doesn't give much significance to. Classmates were there for each other, no questions asked.

Katsuki Bakugo did not feel the same way.

She loves going to U.A. and all of her classmates, truly. Mineta really pushes the boundaries of that love sometimes though.

"You need to stay out of my room, Mineta," she says flatly. She holds up the incriminating purple ball she found underneath her dresser. This is the third time this has happened this month.

She's cornered him in the living room of the dorms while they were alone to try and force him to listen to her. Mineta could be a little pervert, but if you got him on his own he could usually be at least halfway decent.

"I wasn't in you room!" protests Mineta. His eyes dart to the edge of the room, searching for someone to save him from this confrontation. "Anyone could have put that there. They're probably trying to frame me!"

"What are you even doing in there?" asks Tsuyu. She's genuinely curious. She didn't have anything scandalous in there. She figured the thrill of breaking into her room would have worn out by now, so she hadn't done anything too drastic the other times. Now she's more annoyed than anything else.

"I wasn't in there, I swear," he says. He holds his hands up in a gesture of innocence.

She clenches her fists. It's one thing to sneak into her room. It's another thing to lie about it. She's always hated liars. She forces herself to remain calm. "Just admit you did it, apologize, and promise not to do it again. I won't tell anyone else."

"There's nothing to admit to! I didn't do anything wrong." Mineta has the gall to actually sound offended. "Like I'd want to look at your weird frog boobs anyway."

Tsu can't help but flinch a little at his comment. She doesn't care what Mineta thinks about her body. She doesn't care what anyone thinks really. She's heard all of the frog related insults in the world by this point. But it catches her off guard and stings a little anyway.

A loud pop from the other sound of the room is the only warning before Mineta is almost hit with a ball of flames that sends him reeling onto his back to dodge it. They both look up in surprise to see Bakugo scowling. His arm is still extended from letting off the blast.

"Don't mess with Frog Girl," says Bakugo flatly. He continues to glare at Mineta as the boy sputters and scrambles to get up. Tsu has no idea what's going on.

"We're not allowed to use our quirks in the dorms!" says Mineta. His face is flushed in either anger or embarrassment, Tsu can't tell. His voice squeaks as he threatens Bakugo. "Mr. Aizawa-,"

"I think Aizawa would care more about you being a creep than one little explosion. So knock it off and we'll both keep our mouths shut, okay?" offers Bakugo. Although it comes off as more of a threat.

"Fine," says Mineta. He doesn't sound happy about it though. He's still muttering to himself as he storms out of the room. Bakugo nods at her before moving to leave as well.

Once she comes to her senses she quickly follows him. Because _what the heck was that_? Tsuyu is used to Mineta, she is not used to Bakugo getting involved. Was he _defending her?_

She admires Bakugo, he's probably the strongest person in their class. She's even a little intimidated by him. As a person, she mostly thinks he's a jerk. She should probably just let it go, but she can't. There's nothing she hates more than not being able to understand why someone did something.

Villains committing crimes? That made sense. Mineta doing something icky? Typical. Bakugo playing white knight? That definitely warranted follow up.

"Why did you do that?" she asks as she catches up to him. He clearly wasn't expecting her to follow him based on his annoyed expression.

"He was being a dick," he says simply. He keeps walking forward so she keeps walking with him. He doesn't seem pleased about this.

"Mineta's always like that, you never step in," she points out. She really has to hustle to keep up with him.

"I owed you a favor. Now we're even."

"A favor? What are you talking about?" asks Tsuyu. She would definitely remember Bakugo owning her a favor. She's a little out of breath. Bakugo hunches over so much you don't notice how long his legs are.

He finally stops and sighs before facing her. He speaks slowly as if talking to a child (which is slightly offensive). "At the robbery. You helped me out. I just helped you out. So we're good."

"During quad pod last week?" Bakugo rolls his eyes at the name. Tsu ignores it to explain herself. She's grateful to Bakugo for stepping in, but she doesn't want him to think he owes her something every time they work together. Especially if they're going to be in the same quad pod for the rest of the semester. "I wasn't doing you a favor, we were there as a team. We were all given roles based on our strengths. Koda helped the citizens, Momo was in charge of capture, you're the best at combat, and I was there to support everyone else. You probably would have been just fine if I hadn't stepped in, I just wanted to make it easier on a teammate. You don't have to make a big deal out of it. I would have done it for anyone."

His expression doesn't change while she's talking. He just listens to her with that blank, bored look. She starts to feel self-conscious the longer he looks at her. Not too many people can get under her skin, but Bakugo is just so intense all the time.

"Huh. Okay," he says finally. He starts to walk off again without another word. She makes some sort of strangled noise towards his retreating figure. She doesn't move to follow him again though.

Tsuyu takes a deep breath and lets it out then heads back towards her room. _Well, at least that settles that._

She's proven wrong three days later during lunch. She's sitting at a table with Momo and Mina while Mina tells them about her team's recent quad pod drill.

"I know she's a pro, but sometimes Midnight can just be so-," Mina is suddenly cut off by the sound of someone slamming their tray onto the table next to her. Her face goes from annoyed to bewildered when she sees Bakugo sliding into the seat. He has his usual scowl on his face and ignores her stare.

"Kirishima and Kaminari are pissing me off," he announces, directing the statement only at Tsuyu.

"Aren't they always pissing you off?" Tsuyu asks. She thinks they're his friends, but Bakugo generally usually seems angry when they're together.

He doesn't smile, but his sneer seems more pleased. "Yeah, but they're pissing me off more than usual."

"We were talking about our quad pods. What do you think of Mount Lady, Bakugo?" asks Mina. She doesn't seem phased at all by the new addition to their table. That was Mina for you, bubbly and friendly to everyone no matter how cold they were.

"She'd be a lot better if she didn't destroy things everywhere we went," says Bakugo in a flat voice.

"Like you're one to talk," says Mina. "You're always blowing things up."

"That's not true," says Tsuyu. She pictures the single shot that almost singed Mineta. "Bakugo's gotten a lot better at control than when we first started school. Now he can target where his explosions hit."

"What Frog Girl said," says Bakugo, tipping his fork towards her in acknowledgment.

"I think Mount Lady is an excellent quad pod leader," cuts in Momo. "She teaches us a lot while allowing us to try out our skills. We're lucky to have her."

Bakugo rolls his eyes but says nothing. Tsuyu agrees with Momo, but she also sees Bakugo's point too. Mount Lady's size did get in the way a lot when they were trying to help.

"I'd love to have Mount Lady," whines Mina. She pokes at her lunch with a pout. "Midnight is always knocking us out with her magic aroma stuff. I spend half the time in our quad pod napping."

"Why don't you wear gas masks?" asks Tsuyu.

"That's a great idea, Tsu!" Momo claps her hands excitedly. "I can make your group some. Not full-face ones, they'll just cover your mouth and nose, so you won't breathe in the knockout scent."

"Momo, that'd be great! It's not too much trouble, right?" asks Mina.

"No, it'll be fun! I've never made this type of mask before, so it'll be something new to add to my collection. I can study the design this week and have them to you ASAP," Momo chatters excitedly. She pulls a notebook out of her bag to start writing down details.

"You're the best, Yaomomo!" says Mina.

"Why is Bakugo sitting here?" asks Jiro. She takes the spot on Tsuyu's right instead of her usual spot across from her.

"Kirishima and Kaminari are pissing him off," answers Mina. Bakugo nods in agreement.

"Sounds like Kaminari," says Jiro. Her lips twitch in an effort not to smile.

"We were talking about quad pods," says Momo, looking up from her gas mask blueprints. The page is already full of scribbles and sketches. "How was your exercise this week?"

"If I ever have to hear the words quad pod again I will stab myself in the eye with my own earjack," answers Jiro flatly. She scowls at her lunch and stabs a piece of meat with her fork.

"That bad, huh?" asks Mina sympathetically. Jiro just shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

The rest of lunch passes as usual with normal conversation about classes and hero work. Bakugo really only talks when directly spoken to and then usually either gives a one-word answer or something rude. No one seems bothered by it though. They're all pretty used to him by this point.

Tsuyu can't keep herself from glancing at him every once in a while. He's doing it again, acting in a way that doesn't make sense. He catches her looking once and raises a brow at her in question. She stops looking after that.

When they're all finished they all go back to class and Bakugo doesn't say anything else. She watches Kirishima fall into step with him as they walk, apparently their argument over just like that.

It really isn't any of her business. She should just let it go. That's what she resolves to do as she takes her seat for their next class. She has better things to focus on than a classmate's slightly odd behavior.

She doesn't let it go. So she decides an experiment is in order. Which is why four days later she sits down next to Kirishima at lunch. Him and Bakugo are the only ones at the table (they have a reputation for getting loud and aggressive).

"Hey, Tsu," greets Kirishima. It comes out as sort of a question, although not an unkind one. Kirishima didn't know how not to be friendly.

"Someone piss you off?" asks Bakugo. He doesn't seem surprised or upset that she's there. In fact, he seems mildly disinterested.

"No," answers Tsuyu simply. He gives a sort of half nod and goes back to talking to Kirishima.

"Bombs always have a chance of going off at the wrong time. They're too much of a gamble," says Bakugo. Now he sounds interested. "Grenades give you way more control and variability."

"Yeah, but you can get way more explosive power out of a bomb!" argues Kirishima. "Plus grenades can go off before they're supposed to too!"

"Not if you're not an idiot," says Bakugo.

"If you're carrying a grenade on you, someone could attack you and set it off," says Kirishima, ignoring the implied insult. Maybe that's why he and Bakugo got along so well. "Then you'd just blow yourself up."

"What do you think, Frog Girl? Would you rather have a bomb or a grenade?" asks Bakugo. They both turn to her and she feels a little on the spot. They seem to be taking this seriously, so she tries to too.

"Well, there's a lot of variables with each," she says, taping a finger to her chin in thought. "Bombs can create a bigger explosion. But even if you set a timer or use a remote detonator you can't control who's going to be there when it goes off. The risk of collateral damage is high. With grenades, you choose when to use it so there's less of a chance of hitting someone you don't intend to. That's assuming you have great aim and timing. But I'd take the greater control with the grenade if I had to pick."

"Ha!" shouts Bakugo. He's smirking now. "Told you."

"Oh, come on! If you plan well enough in advance you can control a bomb," protests Kirishima. He seems a little more deflated though. She smiles at him in a sort of apology.

"A grenade launcher would be even better though," says Tsuyu. She's surprised as they both tense up immediately. Bakugo scoffs at her.

"A _grenade launcher_?" he asks mockingly. "And you say you care about control?"

"Those things are the most unpredictable!" agrees Kirishima. "If you're trying to hit something from a distance, a bomb is way safer."

She's about to launch into a defense when Kaminari takes the spot next to Bakugo. He looks at all of them, a confused look on his face. "So other people are allowed to sit with us now?"

"We never asked _you_ to fucking sit with us," says Bakugo. Kaminari doesn't react other than a slight frown.

"Kaminari," says Kirishima excitedly, ignoring the question. "Would you rather have a grenade, a grenade launcher, or a bomb?"

Kaminari immediately goes from confused to contemplative. "Are we talking for maximum destructive power or best weapon in general?"

They never do agree on what's best (Kaminari ends up choosing a blowtorch of all things). When lunch is over they keep arguing as they walk back to class together. Tsuyu drops back a little to walk alone.

It had certainly been an experiment. She's not quite sure if it was a success or not. She keeps jotting down the advantages of grenade launchers in the margins of her math notes though.

A week passes and she leans more towards counting it as a failure. Not that she's completely sure what she was trying to get out of it in the first place. Whatever it was it's over now, and she's oddly disappointed.

Their next quad pod is awkward and uneventful. The four of them just work surveillance with Mount Lady and nothing ends up happening. On the one hand, no crime is always a good thing. On the other, spending three hours walking around quietly wasn't very exciting.

Momo is the only one who seems really into it. "Sure, it's not glamorous. But this is what patrolling is often like. It's great experience! Heroes spend just as much time watching over things as they do saving people."

"I guess that's true," says Tsuyu. Her and Momo are walking in the middle of the group. Bakugo is up ahead with Mount Lady. Koda is towards the rear, communicating with some birds to try and find out if they've seen anything.

"I think we can call it," says Mount Lady, turning around to face all of them. "I'm hungry, and this area is free of crime and disaster. You kids can head out early."

"Are you sure?" asks Momo. "We have another twenty minutes before we have to report back."

"Yeah, this has been a real bust," says Mount Lady. She shrugs. "No point in keeping you. Go on, have a little teenage freedom." Momo looks appalled at the idea.

They say their goodbyes and start to walk back to school together. Momo strikes up a conversation with Koda about birds, so Tsuyu watches the people around them. It really is an oddly peaceful day, even if that made for dull fieldwork.

"That was lame," says Bakugo from beside her. He's slowed down to fall in step with her.

Tsuyu nods in agreement. "It's not anyone's fault, but it did feel like a waste of time."

"Yeah," says Bakugo. They walk the rest of the way in silence. She's not sure if she's supposed to try and talk to him. He doesn't try to start a conversation either.

Momo and Koda stop to wait for them once they reach the entrance to the dorms. Momo seems to be in a much better mood than before.

"Great work today everyone!" she says happily. "If we keep it up we're all sure to be top heroes. Have a nice night!"

Tsuyu waves at her as Momo walks away to go join Jiro sitting on the grass outside. Her group is back early too. Jiro is blasting her earphones so loudly Tsu can hear them, so she has a feeling their day wasn't any better. Koda gives a quiet goodbye as well before heading off.

She's left standing with Bakugo. He's frowning as he stretches his arms behind his back. "I'm going for a run. Later, Frog Girl."

"Yeah," she says back. She tries to shake off the weird feeling as she goes inside. She sees Ochaco in the living room and goes to sit with her.

"Tsu!" Ochaco brightens up as she enters the room. "How was your patrol?"

"It was good I guess," she answers. She's not sure that's what she would have said when they left. "How was yours?"

She does her best to listen to Ochaco's story and ignore the sight of a tall, blonde haired boy leaving the dorm in running shorts and headphones.

Maybe failure wasn't the right word. Success wasn't either. Maybe she was just thinking about the whole thing too hard.

The next day she sits down at the same lunch table as Kirishima, taking the seat across form him before Bakugo arrives. She tries to fight down the awkwardness she feels. "Hi Kirishima."

"Tsu! How's it going?" He doesn't seem surprised at all for her to be sitting there. "I heard your quad pod was a dud yesterday."

"Pretty much. How was yours?" she asks.

"Kind of awesome, actually," he answers. "There was an electrical fire that broke out in an apartment not far from here. We helped oversee the evacuation. Everyone got out okay without any major burns."

"That's impressive," says Tsuyu. Kirishima smiles, looking pleased and slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, I mean it was a team effort. My quirk wasn't all that useful."

"Sometimes people in danger don't need a powerful quirk, they just need a friendly face to tell them everything is going to be okay. I'm sure you gave them that," says Tsuyu. He looks both more pleased and more embarrassed.

"Um, well, yeah I tried," he says, scratching the back of his neck.

"Tried what?" asks Bakugo. He takes the seat next to Kirishima. He nods at her in acknowledgment. She nods hello back.

"I was telling Tsu about the fire evacuation yesterday," says Kirishima. He quickly tries to change the subject. "Did you hear about what happened to Midoriya's group? Apparently he had to fight off some pretty rough villains trying to steal a boat."

"Deku always seems to find the biggest trouble," says Bakugo, rolling his eyes. Tsuyu isn't sure if he means that as an insult or not.

"It sounds like everyone had a better time than we did," says Tsuyu. She's more than a little jealous.

"Not everyone!" says Kirishima, before whispering the next part. "Did you hear what happened to Jiro's group?"

"Kirishima, you're not supposed to tell anyone," says Kaminari as he takes the seat next to her. He gives the boy a dirty look. Kirishima holds his hands up in innocence.

"Fine, I'll shut up," he says. Kaminari doesn't look like he beliefs him, but he drops it. As soon as he's not looking Kirishima and Bakugo share a look that they'll talk about it later. Tsuyu should probably ask Momo when she sees her next.

"Besides, don't you want to hear how my crew took down the boat thieves?" asks Kaminari, waggling his eyebrows at them. "It was pretty sweet."

"No," says Bakugo immediately.

Kaminari pouts, Kirishima tries not to snicker. Tsu makes eye contact with Bakugo who rolls his eyes at her. She just shakes her head and smiles slightly. Any awkwardness she felt is gone.

Tsuyu settles into a pattern. A day or two a week she'll eat lunch with Bakugo, Kirishima, and sometimes Kaminari. She doesn't hesitate to lend Bakugo a hand if she can during quad pod. She nods hello to him when she sees him around (he sometimes nods back).

Overall, she's pretty pleased about getting to know one of her classmates better. She's surprised how much she enjoys his company. Sure, he's loud and abrasive and won't hesitate to insult you if he thinks you're wrong. But he was also more dedicated than anyone else she knows and was the guy you wanted to have backing you up in a fight (verbal or physical).

Kirishima is also a great guy. He always seems happy when she chooses to sit with them and includes her in the conversation. He keeps everything from getting too out of hand when Bakugo and Kaminari are starting to fight. Kirishima seems to have an odd calming effect on Bakugo. They're always arguing, but it never seems to keep them from hanging out.

Kaminari is the complete opposite. He takes any chance he has to piss off Bakugo. He's always trying to get under his skin. He's constantly laughing and shooting off sarcastic comments. Kaminari seems to have a Bakugo tolerance level though and spends just as much time with Mineta and the other guys in their class.

Today Kaminari seems to have more energy than usual. He's been talking nonstop and asking question after question.

"Hey Bakugo, do you think your quirk gives you better tolerance to spicy food?" asks Kaminari. "Wait, have you ever tried to eat actual fire?"

"Have you ever tried to get struck by lightning?" asks Bakugo, rolling his eyes. Kaminari seems to consider it for a moment.

"Nah, too much work," he dismisses. He turns to look at Tsuyu then. "Hey Tsu, what do you do to train your quirk? Do you eat flies? Play leapfrog? Practice croaking?"

"I swim," she answers shortly. She knows he's joking around, but she doesn't care much for frog jokes. They're never very clever, plus she's heard pretty much heard all of them before.

"Like in a pond?" asks Kaminari, clearly trying to get a rise out of her. Kirishima elbows him, but Kaminari doesn't stop smiling at her.

"In the school pool before classes," says Tsuyu. She doesn't let her voice betray any emotion.

"Good cardio," says Bakugo. It could almost come off as a compliment. He states it as more of a fact though.

Kaminari looks annoyed at them for ruining his fun. He looks back and forth from her to Bakugo with a thoughtful frown. "Okay, that's it. What did I miss? When did you two become friends?"

"We're not," says Bakugo flatly. There's no maliciousness to it, it's a fact once again.

It feels like someone just kicked her in the stomach. She quickly arranges her face into a neutral expression.

This isn't worth it. She has friends, good friends who appreciate her. That's who she should be spending her time with. If someone doesn't want to be her friend, fine. They're the one who's missing out.

Tsuyu picks up her tray that she's barely eaten off. "I'm done," she announces. "See you later." Which is a lie, but just because she's hurt doesn't mean she has to be rude. She'll leave that to Bakugo.

She catches Kirishima's look of concern but ignores it. Kaminari looks slightly guilty which just makes it worse. She pointedly does not look at Bakugo.

She feels stupid for trying in the first place. Well, she's not going to do that anymore.

Due to the recent relative peace lately, their quad pod this week is just a simulation run by their usual mentor. Mount Lady meets them in front of an abandoned building to give them their assignment.

"For this exercise you'll split up into pairs," instructs Mount Lady. "Two of you will try to sneak into the villain's hideout to gather intelligence that you'll relay to the strike team that stays behind. Once you give them the go ahead, they'll defuse the situation."

There's a pause where they all exchange looks. Tsu decides to take the initiative. "Koda and I will be the intelligence team. Let's go, Koda."

It's hard to tell who looks more surprised. Koda looks uneasy to have been singled out. Bakugo is scowling. Momo looks like she wants to complain but is struggling for the words. Meanwhile Mount Lady just seems amused by the whole thing.

"We'll wait for your signal then," says Mount Lady. She passes a walkie talkie to Tsuyu and Koda. Tsu doesn't care for her smirk but ignores it.

She starts walking and Koda quickly moves to follow her. He gives her a thumbs up when she glances at him over her shoulder. It makes her feel a twinge of guilt.

Logically, her and Koda are a good choice for the job. She can use her quirk to climb the walls and hide in hard to reach places while Koda can use animals to watch their backs. Momo and Bakugo are better suited for combat than subtlety. Still, she knows deep down her choice wasn't entirely prompted by logic.

The exercise goes pretty well. Her and Koda fairly easily find the villain's plans for the robbery and tell the other team how to stop it. Mount Lady calls in shortly after to say it was a success. Her and Koda high five and go back to join the others.

Mount Lady congratulates them when they arrive. "Good job today everyone. It was great to see you all work together so seamlessly."

"Thank you, Mount Lady," says Momo gratefully. Her clothing is slightly ruffled, but otherwise she doesn't have a scratch on her. Bakugo doesn't either. Both of them are standing very far from the other though. He doesn't acknowledge the compliment.

Tsuyu doesn't stick around after they are dismissed. She feels eyes following her as she walks away, she refuses to look back.

Momo catches up to her though. "Tsu, wait up! You're not angry with me, are you?" Momo's hurt look immediately makes her feel guilty again.

"Of course not," she answers quickly. "I just thought Koda and I would be a good fit for the surveillance portion."

"I'm glad to hear that," says Momo. She hesitates a little with her words. "And you're not necessarily wrong. You and Koda both have skills suited for surveillance. But when you work in a four-person team, it's important to make sure both halves are balanced."

"What would you have done?" asks Tsu. She isn't upset with Momo for disagreeing with her. She's got a fair point.

"I would have taken some time to weigh out the advantages and disadvantages before making a decision," says Momo plainly, but not harshly. "While you and Koda were an efficient team, I probably would have split you two up to have a more well-rounded set of pairs. That way if you had run into trouble in the hideout you'd have been better off."

Tsu listens to her and nods as she absorbs Momo's advice. "You're right. I was rash. I'm sorry. It was stupid, and I won't let it happen again."

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad," says Momo gently. "If something's bothering you, you know you can always talk to me about it, right? That's what friends are for." She offers her an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, I know," says Tsu. She smiles back. "It's fine. I promise."

"If you're sure," says Momo. She nudges Tsu and leans in close. "But we can get some ice cream on the way back to celebrate our success if you're in."

"That sounds great," says Tsuyu.

She follows Momo while she chatters on about school and their classmates. Momo's energy is hard to resist, and by the time they get back she's finally out of her sour mood. This is what friendship feels like. She doesn't have to force it where it's not wanted.

Her morning swim is one of her favorite parts of the day. It's quiet and peaceful, and she feels completely at ease as she glides through the water. There's something about being in the water that she can't put into words. Even if she has to get up early, it's always worth it once she's done a couple laps. Which is why she's out here bright and early on Monday morning to start the week off right.

She's about halfway through her routine and resting at the deep end of the pool when she hears the door open. She looks up, feeling surprised and slightly annoyed. This is her one thing, can't she just have that?

Red eyes meet hers as he approaches the pool. It's been two weeks since they've spoken. Tsuyu doesn't move from her spot. She's not mad at him (can you really be mad at someone for not wanting to be friends with you?). She doesn't exactly want to see him though, especially during what is usually a calm and stress-free part of her day.

It doesn't escape her that all he's wearing is a pair of trunks.

He throws the towel and water bottle he brought next to her stuff and walks towards the deep end. "How long have you been here?"

"What are you doing here?" It comes out colder than she means it to. He frowns slightly.

"Morning exercise. Swimming's a full body workout." He drops down to sit on the edge of the pool of the lane next to her. She has to stop herself from scooting away childishly.

"And you chose to come at the same time that you know I'd be here?" She looks up at him and makes herself keep eye contact. He looks away first.

"That a problem? I didn't know you needed the whole pool." He pushes off the ground with his arms and drops into the water.

She doesn't answer. They're closer than she wants to be. His blonde hair looks different wet. It's usually spiky and all over the place. Now it's practically hanging in his eyes.

Bakugo must take her silence as acceptance because he starts swimming toward the other end in a freestyle. His strokes send the water sloshing into her face. She watches him as he reaches the other end and comes back.

She's used to him being a natural at everything they do. But he's an absolutely _terrible _swimmer.

It breaks whatever ill will she has towards him. She can't help bursting out in laughter once he reaches her. He has all the grace of a dog and his technique is atrocious.

He stops and holds onto the edge with one hand before turning to scowl at her. "What?"

"You are an awful swimmer," she says in between laughter. His scowl deepens.

"I know how to fucking swim." He keeps glaring at her while she tries to control her giggles. "Like you're any better."

That stops her laughter short. She meets his gaze and raises a brow. Then she takes a deep breath and plunges into the water. She darts to the other end and back as fast as she can. She doesn't break the surface to breathe once.

When she does come up next to him his face is slack in disbelief. She just smirks back.

"Jesus fucking Christ," he swears.

She laughs again. "Frogs are excellent swimmers."

"Yeah. I saw." She catches the slight admiration.

Bakugo's expression turns serious. "So what am I doing wrong?"

They spend the next thirty minutes trying to fix his form. He's a terrible student. He snaps at her every time she tells him he's doing something wrong. But somehow it's fun. She's disappointed when her phone alarm goes off signaling it's time to get ready for school.

He follows her out of the water and they both towel off. He chugs the water bottle he brought. She supposes he has to drink a lot of water when his quirk functions based on his sweat.

She sits down to do some leg stretches while Bakugo stretches out his arms. She's surprised he's not more tired. He'd been working way harder than she was.

"You're not all that bad," says Tsuyu as she reaches to touch her toes. "You've got the strength. If you spend a little time on the flow you'll be fine."

"Wednesday morning then." He doesn't phrase it as question, but he does look down to meet her eyes.

"Wednesday morning," she agrees.

So on Mondays and Wednesdays he joins her for her morning workout and she tries to make him into a halfway competent swimmer. He never acknowledges her brief silent treatment. She goes back to eating lunch with the boys a couple times a week. She knows he still wouldn't call them friends, but it doesn't bother her like it used to. It doesn't mean he doesn't care in his own way.

She's sitting at lunch with him, Kirishima, and Kaminari a couple weeks later. Bakugo and Kaminari are arguing about who would win in a fight between two foreign pro heroes. She doesn't know who they are, so she's ignoring them.

"Tsu, can I ask you something?" asks Kirishima. He seems to be sick of the argument too.

"Sure," says Tsu easily.

"Why do you tie your hair in a bow? Doesn't it hurt?" asks Kirishima. He tilts his head so he can look at the bow and frowns.

"It's actually pretty comfortable. My hair's really thick, so it keeps it out of the way if I wear it like this," explains Tsuyu. "Plus I like the way it looks."

"Huh," says Kirishima. He touches his own spiky hair and she laughs a little.

"Any other questions?" she asks happily.

"…how far can you stick out your tongue?" he asks after a moment. He leans in closer to hear her answer.

"Right now I can do 20 meters," she answers. Kirishima looks impressed. "I've been working on some exercises to increase my range."

Kaminari perks up at this. "You know if you're looking for a partner to do tongue exercises with-,"

"Finish that sentence and die," says Bakugo loudly.

"God, I'm so sick of your shitty attitude lately," says Kaminari. "Ever since Tsu started sitting with us you've turned into a bigger jackass than usual."

Bakugo stares at him in open hostility. Tsuyu is too caught off guard to say anything. Her and Kirishima share a bewildered look, at a loss for what to do. Then Bakugo lets off a blast that sends Kaminari's lunch straight into his face.

Kirishima starts laughing hysterically as Kaminari frantically tries to wipe the food off his face. "What the fuck, Bakugo?" he demands. "You're going to pay for that."

"Oh yeah?" Bakugo leans back in his chair and stares Kaminari down. He raises an eyebrow at him mockingly.

Kaminari lets out a yell of frustration and grab's Kirishima's plate out from under him. Kirishima starts to protest loudly while Kaminari moves to fling it at Bakugo. The only thing that stops him is her tongue smacking the plate so the food dumps onto Kirishima instead.

There's a moment of silence as they all take in what just happened. Her tongue still hangs in the air from where she'd intervened. She slowly brings it back into her mouth. She hadn't thought at all before doing it. It was like a reflex. She's too much of a coward to glance over at Bakugo to see his expression.

Kirishima finally breaks the moment by leaping onto his seat. His face lit up despite being full of sauce. He beams as he shouts out, "Oh, it is so on!" He starts scooping up all the food he can reach and pelting it at her and Bakugo.

They both instantly move to take cover under the table and most of it ends up hitting the people sitting at the table behind them. Things only escalate from there. The guys from Class 1-B only take a second before they start retaliating. Tsuyu grabs a tray to try and shield herself but quickly ends up covered in food. She reaches above her onto the table to grab something to throw herself.

"Stop this at once," yells Iida. He's standing on his table and his expression is murderous. He manages to hold everyone's attention for a moment before he gets hit with a ball of flying meat. It turns into pure chaos after that.

"Food fight!" she hears someone scream. People start using their quirks to either defend themselves or hit people more accurately. She sees her classmates join into the fray with enthusiasm. Well, most of them. Iida is still trying to corral everyone into stopping.

She looks over to Bakugo, both of them still hiding under the table. He looks back over at her and shrugs. His lips are lifted in a half smirk. Then he jumps up and starts pelting food at anyone within his reach.

"Come and get it losers!" he yells. He throws some food into the air and then blasts it so it explodes out in a burst. His laughter rings out as people duck in cover to avoid his explosions.

She figures it's a lost cause and drops her tray shield. She crawls out from under the table and joins Bakugo, who's now standing on top of what used to be their table to increase his aim. She picks up the nearest plate and uses her tongue to send its contents flying out into the crowd. She's pleasantly surprised and a little guilty when it hits Todoroki and drenches his back.

"Nice shot," shouts Bakugo. He looks even more pleased than she is. His uniform is soaked with a combination or red, green, and brown sauces. There's a piece of shrimp caught in his hair. Despite this, his excitement it practically palpable. He's completely in his element, not even bothering to dodge whatever comes their way. The half smirk from earlier has turned into a full one and his eyes are practically gleaming.

For some reason, it catches her off guard. She's hit by the thought that this wouldn't have happened months ago, not if she didn't know him as she does now. Something has shifted between them to where she'd abandon her spot of safety under the table to throw food at people. Because it makes him happy. Because she cares about making him happy. Awful things like food fights make him happy so she participates in them.

_What am I doing?_ she asks herself, not coming up with a good answer.

She's saved from the question by the teachers bursting into the lunchroom. Principal Nezu blows the whistle that is so sharp and loud it brings everything to a halt. Something about his usually kind face frowning just feels so wrong.

"This is unacceptable," says Principal Nezu. His tone is grave. "You are future heroes, and you're acting like children."

Aizawa looks angrier than she's ever seen him as he steps forward to stare the crowd down. "Now, who is responsible?"

Being in charge of cleaning up the mess isn't the worst punishment they could have gotten. The lecture Aizawa had given them had been worse actually. He'd said he was especially disappointed in her, that he expected better from her. It stung a lot. She really respects Aizawa as a teacher, and she wants him to respect her. She'd taken it all silently and hadn't defended herself.

They've been cleaning for twenty minutes now in silence. It's extremely slow going. Bakugo and Kaminari are still pissed at each other and Kirishima is avoiding them both to not get caught in the middle. She's kept to herself cleaning the hallway that had gotten dirty as everyone had walked through to the bathrooms to clean themselves off.

The hallway is now pretty much spotless. She doesn't have an excuse to avoid the others anymore. She drags her mop with her back into the lunchroom. Her hands are going to have blisters from gripping the handle while scrubbing.

The door makes a loud noise as she enters. All three of them look up at her before going back to cleaning. She swallows the slight lump in her throat and forces herself to start mopping near a spot where Bakugo is wiping down the walls. He doesn't acknowledge her at all.

Her eyes keep flicking over to him despite herself. His expression is grim, even for him. She can't fight the feeling that this is somehow her fault. Kaminari only picked a fight with him because of her.

She finally speaks when she can't stand it anymore. "Did you see invisible girl?"

Bakugo's face transforms from a scowl to his familiar cackle. "She was covered head to toe. That's the most I've ever seen what she looks like." It feels like the air is a little less stiff than it was.

"For the record, I don't think you've changed at all," says Tsuyu quietly. He tenses up next to her. She scrubs a spot on the floor with more aggression than is probably necessary. "And I don't think you should."

"Kaminari can shove it up his ass," is all he says. She gives a sort of half shrug and they drop the topic.

She doesn't care that she wouldn't have done this a few months ago. It doesn't matter.

So what if he's an asshole? He pushes her to be a better hero. He listens to her when she talks. She's happier when he's around. That's what matters.

"Bakugo," calls Kirishima from across the room. He throws his dirty rag to the floor. "Wouldn't this go faster if we just dumped all this shit into a pile and you blew it up?"

"That would be awesome," says Kaminari immediately. He seems genuinely excited about the garbage fire.

"I'm in," says Bakugo easily. He drops his own rag and cracks his knuckles. "Let's light this shit up."

Whatever tension the room had is immediately gone. No conversations or apologies. They all just start shoving everything in a pile in the middle of the room.

Tsuyu takes a deep breath in and out. She could kill them all for making them all go through this. But this food explosion wasn't going to build itself. She sighs and starts to help them.

She hates the fact that she's a little excited about blowing it all up too.

Two days later he surprises her by showing up to her door right when she's about to head to the poor for her morning swim. She has to look twice when she opens the door and he's standing there. He has on his running clothes and his headphones are around his neck. Bakugo stands up straighter when he notices her.

"I've been thinking," he says while leaning against her door frame. He crosses his arms and looks down at her. She feels oddly nervous about him judging her room. "All this swimming is kind of stupid."

She's immediately on edge. He was the one who asked, well not exactly asked, but he showed up of his own will and kept coming back. She didn't force him to be there. If he didn't want to swim with her anymore then fine.

Was he freaked out by what she said while they were cleaning up? She feels a knot in her stomach growing. This was the friends thing all over again. It was impossible to navigate his insane-

"How often do you actually fight people in the water?" asks Bakugo, cutting off her admittedly spiraling thoughts. She stumbles over her words for a second.

"I guess, not very often?" Tsuyu phrases it more as a question, still unsure where he was going with this.

"Exactly," he says. "Training your quirk is great and all, but the majority of the fighting you're going to be doing is going to be on land. So you should be training on land too." Bakugo waits for her to answer expectantly. She opens and closes her mouth but no words come to her.

He huffs in annoyance. "I'm saying we should go running."

"Oh," she says dumbly. She looks down at her swimsuit. "You mean like right now?"

"Yes, right now." Bakugo stands up straight. "I can wait for you to change."

"Okay," says Tsuyu, still a little taken aback. He looks pleased and backs out of the doorway into the hall.

"Meet me downstairs," he says. He doesn't look back as he walks away. She watches him for a moment before snapping out of it.

Tsuyu changes into an old pair of shorts and a t-shirt with a frantic sort of energy. She ties her hair up into a bow on top of her head rather than her usual braid for the pool. She throws her towel back on her desk. She thinks about grabbing her own headphones, Bakugo had his, but leaves them when she can't decide.

Bakugo is stretching his arms over his head when she exits the dorms. He's blasting some loud rock music through his headphones that she can hear clearly despite being feet away. He pauses it when he sees her.

"Finally," says Bakugo.

She can't have taken more than a couple minutes. She chooses to ignore that. She walks over to stand beside him and stretches too. "So what's the plan?"

"We'll do a couple miles around the UA facilities. You set the pace." It's instructions more than an offer. She shrugs in acceptance.

The sun is still rising, so the sky is still a pale blue as they set off. It's quiet for the most part. She can hear birds and some street noise coming from a distance. Bakugo keeps his headphones around his neck though.

Tsuyu tries to set what she thinks is a decent pace, but she has a hard time keeping to it. She's not a poor runner. She just doesn't run for sport much. Usually she runs when she has to for school or has the adrenaline she gets from being in a sticky situation. Even if she wanted to talk to Bakugo she couldn't. She has to focus on breathing.

He's completely at ease next to her. His long legs keep stride with hers like it's nothing. He seems oddly calm too. He's not scowling or anything. It's a complete reversal of being in the water. Here he's the one in his element while she's struggling. She gets the feeling he'd be going much faster if he was on his own.

He only talks when he directs them on the way to go. They go around some of the training facilities and it feels like they've been going forever when they finally loop back towards the dorms.

Tsuyu practically collapses in a heap when they're done. She chugs her water bottle while she can hear Bakugo snickering above her. The bastard is smiling as he wipes his sweat off of his face with his tank top.

"See? You need more on land experience," says Bakugo annoyingly. "You need to be able to run a couple miles in an emergency."

"If it was an emergency I could do it," says Tsuyu. She tries to keep her panting to a minimum.

Bakugo takes a seat on the ground next to her to stretch his legs out. "Yeah, but could you defend yourself when you showed up?" She doesn't bother answering. They both know she couldn't.

She starts to feel better after they've rested for a moment. "You do that every morning?" It was shorter than their pool workout. She checks her phone and she's still got a bunch of time before she usually quits.

"I usually go for much longer," says Bakugo. He smirks at her. "You wouldn't have made it."

She feels her face redden. She wasn't this rude when he was a terrible swimmer. He laughs at her embarrassment.

"Hey Kacchan, Tsu," says someone from behind them. They both turn to see Midoriya standing near the door. He's dressed in shorts and a tank top too and is carrying an All Might water bottle. He gives them both a sleepy smile, it's clear he just woke up. "Good morning for a run. Good for you two for getting a jump start on the day."

"Deku," acknowledges Bakugo coldly. All trace of laughter is gone from his face.

"Morning," greets Tsuyu. She smiles despite the awkwardness. Midoriya doesn't seem to feel it though. He gives a little yawn with a stretch.

"See you later," he says brightly. He takes off in the opposite direction they want at a pace that is much, much faster than Tsu went. Tsu watches him, impressed and surprised. He was constantly exceeding her expectations.

Bakugo doesn't share her admiration. He just drinks his water bottle and ignores Midoriya completely. Tsu doesn't really get the history there, and she doesn't want to push Bakugo by prying.

She changes the subject instead. "How much land experience do you think I need?"

"A lot more," says Bakugo. He finishes his water and throws the bottle to the ground. "You should split your time evenly. Monday and Wednesday pool, Tuesday and Thursday running. Longer and faster every time."

"What about Fridays?"

"Fridays we do our own thing. I run, you swim. All out." He sounds confident in his plan. She's stuck on one thing though.

"I don't want to slow you down," she says carefully. She doesn't want him to think she's rejecting the idea. "You said yourself you usually run much farther. And I'm sure you go faster too. I don't want to hold you back."

"I thought of that too," he says. "You've haven't been pushing yourself when we swim either. But this way we both have to push ourselves at something. Nobody grows in a comfort zone."

Tsuyu nods while she thinks over what he said. It made a lot of sense. Bakugo was smart, she trusted his opinion. She knew he wouldn't be offering if he didn't think they'd both benefit.

A small part of her is hung up on a completely different side of things-the fact that he wants to spend his mornings with her almost every day. Sure, it's for training. But still. You don't spend this much time with someone you're indifferent towards.

"I agree," she says. He doesn't seem surprised. He sort of half smiles though.

"Kirishima comes too when he can drag his lazy ass out of bed," says Bakugo. "I wouldn't count on it happening a lot."

Tsuyu smiles and shakes her head while she forces herself to get up. "I'm going to go shower. I'll see you in class."

He doesn't move from his spot on the ground but he lifts an arm towards her. "Later, Frog Girl."

She tries to fight down a tiny bit of disappointment as she walks away. So it wasn't an offer he was making just to her. That made more sense. For someone who had no trouble saying exactly what he thought she had no idea what he was thinking most of the time.

They spend most of their mornings together but she also notices that he talks to her more now than he used to. He doesn't ask her about her day or her feelings (it's still Bakugo), but he'll ask her other things.

"Who would you want as the quad pod leader if you got to pick?" he asks her one day after quad pod while they're walking back to the dorms together. They actually saw some action today and helped Mouth Lady apprehend a villain. He'd been pretty weak, more talk than skill. But Bakugo got to punch somebody so he was in a good mood.

Tsu takes a moment to think about it. "It's a toss-up. I'd either pick 13 or Gang Orca."

"Really?" He seems surprised.

"13 would be great because I want to get more experience with rescue hero work. It's probably what I'm going to end up doing. We never really got to learn much from her because of the whole USJ incident," explains Tsuyu. "Then Gang Orca because of our quirks. His is also animal based. I bet I could learn a lot from him."

"Gang Orca would be pretty sweet," says Bakugo. "He's a great fighter. One of the top heroes too."

"What about you?" she asks.

"All Might," he answers right away. That doesn't surprise her. What he says next does though. "Mount Lady isn't terrible either."

"I didn't think you liked her all that much," says Tsu. She remembers him complaining about her breaking everything everywhere they went.

"Why?" he asks.

She struggles for an answer. He'd never actually said he disliked her. "That was just the impression I got from you."

"I didn't like her much at the beginning," says Bakugo. "But she's actually a badass. She takes down the villains no matter what, even if she wrecks stuff doing it. Plus she lets us actually do shit. She doesn't just lecture us about what a hero should act like. She doesn't try to make us change who we are."

"We are pretty lucky," says Tsuyu. "You sound like Momo."

Bakugo glares at her and won't talk to her for the rest of the walk. They talk more, but he's still got a pretty short fuse.

"We work together." He's sitting on the edge of the pool with his legs dangling in the water. She's floating on her back and relaxing when his words break the silence. Tsuyu turns to face him. They've finished their workout for the morning and have been cooling off.

"What do you mean?" she asks. Coming from anyone else that might have been a nice thing to say. But this was Bakugo.

"Our quirks are so different. We offset each other. We'd make a good alliance." His expression stays neutral while he speaks. She frowns as she tries to understand what he's saying.

"Actually, that's not true. You should try to work with people whose quirks enhance yours, not just opposites," points out Tsuyu. "Explosions and frogs don't strengthen the other." She stands and walks over to the edge where he's sitting.

He rolls his eyes at her. "Yeah, but you should also work with people you can stand," argues Bakugo. "I'm not going to team up with Icy Hot just because we both use fire."

"I guess I never thought of it like that." She hops up onto the edge next to him. She wrings the water out of her hair to try to get it to dry faster. He shoots her an annoyed look for getting him wet.

"So you're in?" asks Bakugo, still looking straight ahead.

"You want us to be…allies?" Tsu says the last word slowly. She puts down her hair and focuses on him. He flicks his gaze back to hers before quickly facing forward again.

"Call it whatever you want," he says shortly. She notices his hands are balled into fists at his sides.

"Sure. I'm in," agrees Tsuyu after a moment. She stands up completely and reaches down to help Bakugo up too. He ignores her hand and get up on his own. But he does seem more at ease when he looks at her. The edge of a smile is visible.

Tsuyu doesn't fight her own smile. Allies it is then.

Midterms are coming up again, and everyone is stressing out about it. Her and Ochaco are comparing notes after class while everyone packs up for the day. Ochaco's highlighted almost every word in a different color in some complex system that Tsu does not get at all.

She's starting to freak out a little too. Hero studies have been going well this semester, but she's definitely spent a lot more time training her body than her mind the last couple weeks. Maybe she could get in on Momo's study session? Ochaco must be nervous too because she's started chewing on her hair while she reads Tsu's notes.

"Yo Frog Girl," Bakugo calls out. She looks up to see him and Kirishima standing in the classroom doorway. "Studying. Tonight. Kirishima's room."

"We've got snacks," adds Kirishima brightly. He gives her a thumbs up. He'd look really confident if his usual spiky hair wasn't flat from tugging on it all day during the review session.

Tsuyu smiles and does a thumbs up back. "Got it." Bakugo nods at her and they leave the classroom. She goes back to looking at Ochaco's rainbow notes hoping they'll make more sense this time.

"I just added a couple points on sentence structure, but otherwise your notes look good, Tsu," says Ochaco. She puts the corrected notes onto Tsuyu's desk. "Plus you've got one of the smartest kids in our class to study with. Kirishima says he can still hear Bakugo screaming the right answers at him when he's taking the test."

"That could be memorable," says Tsu. She finally looks up at Ochaco, defeated. "Ochaco, I have no idea what any of this says. It's like a coloring book."

"What?" asks Ochaco frantically. "No, no, no, there's a system! Yellow is terms, pink is key points, orange is explanations, green is common mistakes, blue is direct quotes, and red is stuff we might not need to know, maybe." She holds up each color as she talks. Tsu chooses not to ask her why she would need to highlight things they didn't need to know.

"It's very thorough," says Tsu, trying to be supportive. Ochaco's face lights up. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Tsu." Ochaco takes her notes back and they walk to the dorms together. They say their goodbyes and Tsu watches her join Midoriya and Iida studying outside while it's still light out.

Tsuyu goes to her room to change and grab the rest of her things to study. She runs into Momo on her way to Kirishima's room.

"Tsu! Oh, good, I was looking for you," says Momo. She pulls out a stack of papers from the binder she's carrying. "Here's a copy of my study guide. It's organized by subject and there's an index in the beginning."

_Momo's Guide to Acing The Midterms!_ reads the first page. Tsu flips through a couple pages and it's incredibly detailed and clear (kind of the opposite of Ochaco's notes actually). "This is amazing, Momo. Thank you so much."

Momo blushes at the compliment. She waves a hand dismissively. "Oh, it's no big deal. It helped me to make it, so it's no trouble to make a couple copies. I figured you could share it with Bakugo and Kirishima too."

Tsuyu stops turning the pages to look up at Momo. She hadn't been there when they had asked her to study with them. She did spend a lot of time with them, sure. But was it really a given that she was going to be studying with them? Because they're…allies?

She snaps out of her thoughts to give Momo a grateful smile. "Of course. I'm sure it'll help us all."

"Excellent! Good luck studying," calls out Momo as she walks away.

"You too," she says towards Momo's back. She adds the study guide to her pile of things and starts walking again. She doesn't spend a lot of time on the guys' side of the dorm. She stops to say more good lucks to Shoji and Tokoyami on her way.

She finally reaches Kirishima's room and can already hear shouting from the other side. Bakugo's voice is loudly going through the proper sequencing of algebra with insults thrown in every couple words. It makes her smile as she opens the door.

Bakugo doesn't stop his rant, but Kirishima notices her right away. "Tsu! Come in. We're just getting into the math section."

The boys are laying on the floor in the middle of the room. Almost the entire floor is covered with books and notebooks. There's an open space next to them with the chips she always eats at lunch waiting though. She settles down there, smiling widely at both of them.

She gets out her math notes and flips her book open to the problems they're working on. She lies down on her stomach and opens her chips, ready for some long hours of studying.

"No, whenever there's parenthesis you do the shit inside that first," Bakugo instructs to Kirishima. He's scowling at his math book. "It's one of the basic rules."

"Are you sure?" asks Kirishima. He's erasing the majority of his page aggressively. "But if you're talking the square root and there's a square in the parenthesis can't you just cancel that stuff out?"

"No. Because you're not just doing the root of that one number, moron."

"He's right," agrees Tsu. She's opened Momo's study guide to the math section and is skimming it. "It's in Momo's guide. She gave it to me to share with you guys."

"Thank god," says Kirishima. He looks more than a little relieved. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

"I don't need someone else's notes," says Bakugo, rolling his eyes. He goes back to the problem he was working on.

"Well _I _do," says Kirishima. He scoots over next to her so he can read it too. Tsuyu slides it closer to him and he smiles at her. Bakugo scowls at both of them.

They spend the rest of the night reviewing. Kirishima holds onto Momo's guide like he can learn it through osmosis. Bakugo insults them whenever they get a question wrong. Tsuyu does her best to keep up, but Ochaco is right. Bakugo is smart, and he isn't afraid to call her an idiot when she's wrong. It's slightly unsettling, but it keeps her focused. She's surprised how late it is when they turn in for the night.

She feels prepared the next morning sitting down to take the test. She has an answer for most of the questions. She hears Bakugo's voice saying y_ou can't fucking end a sentence like that _during the writing portion and has to force herself not to snort.

She's never studying with anyone else if she has the choice.

She ends up doing fantastically on the midterms. Not anywhere near Momo's level, but she's still happy. Her grades are great, she can finally run without feeling like dying, and she's growing as a hero every day. Things have been pretty crazy ever since she started school, but now it feels like she's finally settling into a good rhythm.

She's approaching the boys' table and she can hear them arguing before she gets there. Kaminari's there today, and he's brought Mineta. Which is fine. He's sat with them a couple times before. Then Bakugo's next sentence stops her cold.

"So what if she looks like a frog? She's got a rocking body."

Right after he says it he glances up and sees her. His eyes widen in panic. Her face is pretty much frozen. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but she starts fast walking before he can. Her body steers her to a different table without thinking.

She sits down next to Ochaco at a table with Midoriya and Iida.

"Tsu!" Ochaco is pleasantly surprised. "Congrats on doing so well on the midterms. You must be excited."

"Very," says Tsuyu blankly. She tries to shake off her shock. "You did pretty well too. That highlighter system of yours must have worked out." Ochaco blushes and waves off her compliment.

"Everything okay?" asks Midoriya kindly. She wipes the expression from her face to smile at him. Ah, she'd forgotten how observant he could be.

"Everything's fine," she answers quickly. "So what do you think our next hero training session is going to focus on?

Midoriya quickly launches into his theories and she settles in to listen and chime in when she can.

The words _rocking body _echo over and over again in her mind for the rest of the day.

She manages to avoid Bakugo up until that night when he corners her when she goes to the kitchen go make a cup of tea before going to bed. She immediately regrets going to get it when she sees him waiting for her when she turns around go to back to her room.

"I shouldn't have been talking about you like that," he says before she has a chance to bolt. He looks just as uncomfortable as she feels.

"Look, I know what I look like," she says. She tries to hide the slight waver in her voice. "I don't care what people say about me. My quirk is who I am. I'm not ashamed to be frog-like. And I know you think you have to stick up for me because we're allies or whatever. But lying about my appearance to make me feel better doesn't help anything. It just makes it worse. So please don't do it again."

"Frog Girl," he says shortly. He won't make eye contact with her and it sounds like he's forcing the words out. "You wear a skintight wetsuit most of the time. I don't lie to people to make them _feel better._"

She doesn't know what to say to that. He's right, he wouldn't do that. She must have projected her insecurities onto the situation. Which means that…_oh._

"So you-," she starts to say.

"Can we just forget the whole thing?" he cuts her off quickly. His face is slightly red, but it's the first time she's seen it turn that way from something other than anger. He crosses his arms and flicks up his gaze to meet her eyes reluctantly.

"Sure," Tsuyu agrees easily. She takes her tea and heads back to her room. Her smile doesn't leave her face for the rest of the night.

"Oh, wow. You weren't kidding. She's freaky fast." Tsuyu hears a familiar voice when she breaks the surface for air. She turns to see Kirishima standing by the pool, an impressed look on his face. His hair is tied back into a pony tail and he's wearing running clothes. He's still dripping with sweat.

"I fucking told you," says Bakugo. He's in what she's come to think of as his spot, sitting on the edge of the pool at the shallow end with his legs dangling in the water. It's a Friday morning, so she hadn't expected to see him.

Tsu swims over to stand next to him in the water. She smiles up at him. "Nice run?"

"He's a slave driver," whines Kirishima. "I can't believe you do this by choice all the time, Tsu." She laughs while Bakugo rolls his eyes. She's been there.

"Water?" Bakugo holds out the bottle he's been drinking from to her. She takes a large gulp. She'd really been pushing herself.

"Gross," says Kirishima. They both look over at him. She's confused, Bakugo's offended. Kirishima wrinkles his nose. "His sweat and spit is all over that!"

Tsuyu just shrugs. "I don't mind." Bakugo nods in agreement. She takes another drink before handing it back to him. He makes a big show of licking the lid just to prove his point. Kirishima looks horrified while Bakugo smirks.

"I did not get dragged out of bed for this," says Kirishima under his breath.

"What time is it?" asks Tsuyu. Her alarm hasn't gone off yet, but she could be done.

Kirishima pulls his phone out to check "Almost seven."

Tsu thanks him and moves to get out of the water. Bakugo stands up and grabs her towel for her. She takes it from him gratefully. He quickly moves aside when she starts to wring out her hair.

"Did you do the math homework yet?" asks Bakugo.

"I finished most of it," she says. "Want to compare answers before quad pod?"

"Sure. I'll meet you in the dorm living room after you shower."

"You two have got your own little routine going on," says Kirishima. He's grinning widely at them. Tsu's too content to get riled up by his comments.

"Shut up," says Bakugo without any heat. "Let's go." He starts to leave and Kirishima follows. He raises a hand as a goodbye behind him as he goes.

"But you're going to help me with the math homework, right?" Kirishima asks. "Right, Bakugo?"

"So I'll have you split up into pairs to cover more ground," says Mount Lady. "Two of you will check the north side of the building while the others will search the south. I'll stay here to run point, and we can communicate with these walkie talkies."

"I pick Frog Girl," says Bakugo before anyone speaks up. He grabs two of the walkie talkies and holds one out towards her.

"Doesn't it bother you when he calls you that, Tsu?" asks Momo quietly from beside her. Tsu gets the feeling Momo thought her and Tsu were going to be teaming up together. She smiles as a sort of apology.

"Why would it? Katsuki and I are friends," she says clearly, loud enough for him to hear too. She moves to join him and grabs the walkie talkie from him.

He'd said she could call it whatever she wanted. She's not scared he'll freak out anymore. Or even if he does she knows it isn't going to last.

Bakugo doesn't freak out though. His facial muscles rearrange into something she rarely sees, and usually only when he's inflicting pain on someone, a real smile.

It's not really a nice smile, it's arrogant and angry- just like him. He's showing way too many teeth for it not to be threatening. But it transforms his face into something that makes her heart beat just a little bit faster.

Okay friends might not be the exact right term but it's what she's going with for now.


End file.
